So I took the day off of work to study for my Matlab midterm with my girlfriend and another friend of mine. I was on campus when we hear that there is a fire at Red Square, so out of curiosity we peeked around the corner and saw what appeared to be a small blaze surrounded by a bunch of people. We assumed it was some college kid prank, and walked off, only to discover later that some guy poured gasoline over himself, lit a match, and set himself ablaze Buddhist monk style. He died at the hospital a few hours later.

We were really too far to take notice, and when we peeked around the corner, it was probably pretty much all over.

This is Seattle, so I wouldn't have been too surprised to see a bunch of gaping onlookers, but according to news reports, people were trying to put him out via jackets, sweaters, and pants. I feel pretty terrible for those kids that were right there and had to be a part of something like that.

I'm guessing that he was just incredibly distressed or delusional. He didn't say anything beforehand, so if he was protesting, than his point was lost. Anyway, here's an article with some specifics; his name has not yet been released but it turned out that the victim (a 61 year old man) was a former UW employee.